(Closed) Annulment Process?

Hi all! I just got engaged, and my Fiance and I would like to have our wedding ceremony in a Catholic church. He was married before, so will need to have an annulment. Has anyone been through this process before/know how long it can take? He is Catholic, but was not married in the church.

I think my uncle went through this and it was a lengthy process. I mean lengthy and personal to boot. He had to give out packets to people close to him and his ex wife to fill out with super personal questions on them about their marriage, etc, etc. I would definitley agree with KLP2010 and get on it ASAP. Just to be on the safe side.

It varies based on where you are located. Some tribunals can take 6 months and some take 18 months depending on their work load. I’ve never heard of longer than 18 months.

Also, as KLP2010 said this should be a very easy annulment since he was a Catholic not married in a Catholic church (it’s called a Lack of Form Annulment). Sometimes tribunals have a special “fast track” for these kinds of annulments. I’ve heard of these types of annulments being granted in less than 2 months in some diocese.

My husband got an annulment for lack of canonical form. It took a long time to meet with the priest and fill out all the paperwork and gather all the required documents…but our priest moves slowly. However, once everything was mailed to the tribunal, he got the decree back in about a month.

@Neva: Oh good! He is in a different diocese from where we will get married, but I called the priest at the parish where we will be married, and he said it shouldn’t take long. Hopefully his priest will move quickly!

My aunt had been previously married in a civil ceremony (she eloped to the courthouse when she was 18). When she went to marry her current husband in the Catholic Church (post-divorce, of course), our priest told her she didn’t have to bother with an annulment at all since the marriage was never recognized by the Church anyway. After hearing everything that was posted on this thread, I’m confused. Should she have gone through another process before marrying her current husband in the Catholic Church? They’ve been married nearly six years now, by the way.

@mandi.pitt: It’s not like it’s a sin that she didn’t get an annulment because it wasn’t a Catholic wedding in the first place. Usually churches just require it regardless just to make sure it wasn’t a Catholic wedding.

She just saved herself some paperwork. Though *technically* that priest would be bending the rules.